Work in progress...

and the winner is... red!

i have always loved this color combination.  

plus, i was determined to make this top from fabric on hand.  

i have a lot to use up!

it's not done yet... this is just the top, unpieced 

and still needing its border.

(don't mind that gray bar... it's my treadmill :)

pink or red - that is the question

i'm starting this today... i have the blue/aquas down... 

just trying to decide if i want the rest all red or all pink.

you can find this pattern in quiltmaker jan/feb 2012...

i love the prism quilt in there too!

giving this a whirl...

i hope you had a very merry Christmas :)

i saw this on pinterest and fell in total love with everything about it. my friend tifani and i are going to make this together... apart :) mine here at my home and hers at her home. anyone else want to join in??

the tutorial is from aesthetic nest and can be found here.

i ordered the chevron fabric from fabric.com and found the flannel for the back at joann's... they had a major flannel sale right after thanksgiving (the lines were absolutely insane!! but the express cutting line went fast :)


i picked the flannel for the color... since it will all be cut once i finish the many lines of sewing.
no too much progress yet, but it will probably be like the rest of my projects. i have 'a.d.d.' - or something like it when it comes to projects :)

oh, i am still going to update on the guest room - it's just the guest came before i could snap a pic and i figured i would wait until they left...

on to the next challenge

yes, there is another challenge in my life... 

if only it was the only one ;)

you can get all the scoop about it here.  

jay mccarroll is the designer of the fabric we were given... 

six fat eighths (say that 10 times fast!) from his habitat line.  

i must confess... i don't really like this line.  it is just not my cup of hot chocolate - no offense intended.  if i had to pick a favorite from the six we were given, it would have to be the blue one with the dots.

this is my start.

wow, huh??

do i hear crickets??  

well, actually here in these parts lately, it would be cicadas :)

thank you for all the kind comments about my last challenge quilt.  it was my design - i bumbled along.  i would love to write a tutorial.  what 'cha think?  anyone know someone good at mentoring someone with lots of ideas, but no experience writing tutorials??

done and done...

stlmqg meeting 8/13/2011, a photo by splendorfalls on Flickr.

rip, rip, ripping challenge

the front...

stlmqg meeting 8/13/2011, a photo by splendorfalls on Flickr.
  
the back...
the end :)

rip, rip, ripping challenge

the saint louis modern quilt guild is having a new challenge...
if we wanted to participate, we had to bring a yard of fabric to our last meeting and then we ripped it in half - saved half - and proceeded to pass the fabric around in a circle (our chairs were in a circle with all of us facing out).  when the person in charge said, "stop" we ripped the piece of fabric we now had in half, started passing and repeated until we each had five pieces of fabric.  clear as mud? :>  no, i know you get it ;)

here are the official rules from the stlmq:

"You must make something (quilt, table runner, market bag, etc) that is bigger then a placement
using 4 of the 5 fabrics that you received during the Ripping game.  You can add any additional fabrics that you choose, just make sure that each of the 4 fabrics are clearly represented somewhere in the project.  You may be asked to point them out, so be prepared.  The finished item must be brought to the August 13th meeting, in order for you to be eligible for any prizes.

Think creatively and have fun!"

i have the fabrics that i ended up with numbered above (i decided to use all 5 fabrics).

this really has been a challenge.  lots of ideas floating.  some frustration, but great challenge.  of course, i am not complaining about the fabrics i ended up with.

will keep you posted.

Catch that color!

I washed Tara's quilt and used this to make sure the colors didn't run, I used this... 

For the most part, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

A bit of bleed... see it in the corner.

I'm not one to prewash my fabrics.  I love the crinkle magic that happens in the dryer after the wash and I think prewashing takes away from that.  And I'm always after as much crinkle as I can get.

I also used the color catcher on this quilt.  Here it is prewashed.

and now for the magic...

 

I wasn't as thrilled with my color catcher results on this one... but I only used two sheets.  With all the turquoise waiting to bleed on this one, I should have used more.  But I learned, and that's what it's all about :)

Tara's Quilt - Prewash

I finished this one and here it is - before the magic of the washer and dryer.

It is my first venture into using up leftovers - it is for a cousin due to have a baby any time now :)

Cooper's Nativity and a Happy New Year

we hope you had a wonderful Christmas...  we enjoyed being all together.


before Christmas, i had been cutting out some vinyl with my cricut and had some scraps laying around.  cooper put them to good use...  I saw this on a wall in my craft room...

Coop explained that this is Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and that the stockings are for Heavenly Father and Jesus.   awwww - i thought that was so sweet.

here is what is up on the design wall right now -

you can find the pattern here.  at this point i am planning on a light grey binding and a soft, pink flannel back.  this is for a friend who just had a baby...

here's hoping you all have a happy new year!

still playing with scraps

i added some machine stitching...

i may have gone a bit overboard,

but it is good practice.

i'd love to know what you think... 

i'll keep working on the border.

playing with scraps

i was in the mood to create something yesterday 

(i felt like it had been forever!) 

so i started playing around with some scraps...

at first i thought of a house, 

 or maybe trees on a hill...

 in the end, the trees won me over.

so many possibilities!!!

i will update soon - i did some machine stitching.  i'm thinking wall hanging, but maybe a pillow?

fusing fun!

i had an amazing time in Paducah...

and like the somewhat lazy blogger i have been of late, go here to our teacher's (Laura Wasilowski's) blog and check out her "Iron Maidens" post to see everyone's pics.

It was a great group - so many different ideas floating around that room!  My Mom took the class (Judith), but she thought her picture was terrible, so she won't look at the blog =).

I will post some photos of my work - as soon as i can find a memory card...

There's No Need to Fear....

Quilt man is here :)

Yes, I got to meet Quilt Man while I was at the workshop in Paducah, at the National Quilt Museum.

He was a very confident guy... like not afraid to go outside the quilt museum and walk around downtown by himself.

I had a wonderful time learning from this rock star of the quilting world (little did I know that before I went) - Katie Pasquini Masopust .  Two of her quilts were on display in the museum while I was there.

Her work is SO amazing and she is a gifted teacher.

Here is one of her latest. She paints on canvas and then stitches on the painting.  Genius!

The workshop was all about transforming a still life into an abstract quilt.  We worked on a posterboard sized one the last day, with the idea of coming home and working on a "masterpiece" one (at least 5 feet by 5 feet).

It was quite a right brained workout - all the different exercises led up to us choosing one piece to make there.

Here are some of the works in progress.  Mine is the one on the bottom right corner (with the table easel in front of it ...).

 

This one was my favorite of all the student's work - a new friend (Sheila from NC).  LOVE IT!!!

I think I have learned I like something more realistic than abstract.  But, I do HIGHLY recommend this class, or anything taught by Katie.

Our First Giveaway!

Well, my impatience is showing...
I was going to wait and do this for our 100th post, but what's a post or two between friends? :)


I made these cuties... Have I mentioned before how much i LOVE Heather Bailey's fabric?? (I am assuming you can tell they are potholders)

I've put a few things in my very new Etsy shop... but would love some help.
If you want to enter the giveaway,
please leave a comment, and if you would like to, I welcome any suggestions.

I'll probably leave the giveaway open for a couple of weeks and then let you know who the lucky winner is.
Thanks for stopping by!
Stay cozy...
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you :)

Brenda's Quilt

Have I ever mentioned what a wonderful Mom-in-law I have? She is so supportive and one of my best friends - yes, I do know how blessed I am :)
I made her this quilt for her birthday. I had planned something a bit different than actually came out in the end... but at least I tried an actual plan this time. I usually just wing it.
I found the fabric at Hancock's - I LOVE the dragonflies.

Labor of Love

I have been working on this quilt for Amanda for quite a while now (just like all my other projects :)
She picked out the fabric. I used charm packs - they are fun to work with. This started out as a "lap" quilt, but I kept adding on and adding on. Now it will fit nicely on her day bed.



This was my first experience free motion quilting on an actual quilt and not a small practice piece. I know I have a lot to learn, but it was FUN!